Saturday, August 29, 2015

Kolkata is a young city. A little
less than 350 yrs in existence, this young megapolis is evolving at a breakneck
speed. The City has not only expanded geographically but it has mutated in
terms of its ethnicity and cultural philosophies. Kolkatans penchant for art
has been one of the most enduring stories. From the late 19th
century, Bengal School of Art was one of the pioneering Gharanas of painting
& sculpture which rose as an avant garde form of expression for the Indian
nationalist movement. From the Old Bengal School of Abanindranath Tagore,
Gaganendranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose; to the slightly later day artistes
like Ramkinkar Baij, Jamini Roy & Pradosh Dasgupta; from the post-independence
luminaries namely Paritosh Sen, Ganesh Pyne, Ganesh Haloi, Prakash Karmakar
& Jogen Chowdhury to the current bunch of established artistes such as
Shuvaprasanna, Suhas Roy, Sameer Aich & Paresh Maity. Even today West Bengal
continues to produce talents who are successfully carrying forward the rich
legacy of Bengal School of Art.

A variety of organising clubs
across the city have over the years patronised eminent artistes by giving them
an opportunity to demonstrate their craft during Durga Puja. This obviously was
a digression from the convention where the images were predominantly sourced
from the idol-makers of Kumartuli or many such smaller pottery barns (Potuapara
or Potter’s Ghetto) scattered across various nooks of Kolkata, eg. Kalighat
Potuapara; Ultadanga Potuapara; Jadavpur Potuapara, etc. During the mid 70’s,
few clubs actually dared to break the monotony and started commissioning Durga
Images from some of the upcoming and even established sculptors & painters.
This was also a phase marred by a severe socio-political turmoil in Bengal. A background
to this period could be traced back to the socio-economic disarticulation due
to numerous issues and their repercussions like the famine, post-war military
presence of the allied forces in the city of Kolkata, communal unrests in
Bengal and in the bordering East Pakistan subsequently leading to a huge influx
of the Hindu community crossing into West Bengal, and so on. All these would have
a significant impact during the 70’s. End of the 60’s and through the 70’s there
was a scenario of political transition. The Naxalite movement and its related
violence, the economic situation and the stress generated thereby, as well as
the imposition of Emergency with its features of censorship of public expression
and media (dailies, magazines etc) engendered the ground for protest movements.
Amongst the artists of the 60’s & 70’s, noteworthy sections were art school
graduates, mostly in their twenties. Whilst these emerging contenders imparted
a strong disapproval for the existing status of visual arts, they also did not
have an absolute clarity about a convincing alternative in graphic expression
to be able to communicate a developed semantic composition.

A Paresh Maity Creation
for Bakulbagan Sarbojanin (2014)

Coming back to the Pujas, in the
light of such grim socio-political circumstances this detour in terms of Durga
Puja image making was in itself a brusque statement for the lackeys who trolled
in a facade of standard practice. Some of the Clubs took the lead in
orchestrating what was more like art-house imagery and display, a parenthesis
from the hackneyed… much similar to the Parallel Cinema movement which also
originated out of Bengal in the 1950’s providing an entirely new paradigm to
the Movie-watching audience. One such club was Bakulbagan Sarbojanin, a clear
pioneer in assigning established professional artistes to make their idols and
marquee. Some of the renowned names who have worked at Bakulbagan Sarbojainin include
Wasim Kapoor, Deepali Bhattacharjee, Nirode Majumdar, Isa Mohammad, Bikas
Bhattacharjee, Rathin Mitra, Shanu Lahiri, Mira Mukherjee, Gour Mohan Pahari, Sarbori
Roy Chowdhury, Paritosh Sen and Shuvaprasanna. Even in 2014, Bakulbagan
Sarbojanin had commissioned the very illustrious and distinguished Paresh Maity
to make their idol (See Pic) which re-establishes their humble yet consistent
patronage towards meaningful artwork.

Over a period of the last 50
years, there has been a wide array of exceptional Puja artworks which have bedecked
the roads, alleyways and commons of Kolkata. Much has been deliberated,
analysed and scrutinised about these brilliant creations, some of which have unquestionably
gone into the folklore of contemporary Puja history of the city. On the other
end of the spectrum there have been instances where creativities have gone to
the extent of questioning the sensibility and taste of the discerning
audiences, and obviously fell way short of both public acceptance and
endorsement. This piece would dig into such discretely abstract samples which ended
up being howlers and generated a sense of faux pass in the minds of the spectators.
Many of these gaffes, have strayed out of top-of-the-mind public recall,
although most of them had infused a lot of curiosity and attention. This
listicle tries to register 11 of the best bloopers in last 10 years. The list is in random order and in no specific sequence or rank.....

Celebrated German artiste Gregor
Schneider designed the Theme for the club as a part of a Indo-German
collaboration Infinite Opportunities by
Goethe-Institut, India. In his design, named “It’s all Rheydt - Kolkata 2011” many elements of his
signature work 'Haus u r' were
exhibited along with rudimentstypical
of Kolkata. Schneider was born in Rheydt (pronounced – ‘right’), a
borough of Mönchengladbach, located in North-western Germany. Made of plywood
and plaster, the pandal resembled a three dimensional
"re-constructed" room. Incidentally, the pandal was based on Schneider’s
grandmother’s house with a road going straight up, a staircase going sideways
and sections of a room. Well, the objective
of the installation was novel but the execution was nowhere near to its
envisioned form. The club which generally drew record crowds, could only muster
a sorry patch of ignominy. The club, as expected went back to its traditional practices
from the very next year.

HALSIBAGAN SARBOJANIN (2014)

Repulsion Quotient – 85%

The Halsibagan Sarbojanin (2014) Barbie!!!

Well, there are themes/displays which are
unfortunately so abstract and hypothetical that they are beyond comprehension
of lesser mortals like me. This one fails to reach anywhere close to my petty
brain cells. The interior of the Mandap was crankily lit up in murky blue to
the extent of obscurity. There was also a hint of 3D-ness added to the
interiors for no credible reason due to the usage of azure lights on plastic
sheets. As per the Club Banners, the theme was meant to display "Dawsh
Mahabidya Dharini" (Source of Eternal Knowledge). It ended up being almost
like an amateurish Craft Project Blooper where I could just notice a Barbie, at
best!!!!

KALITALA SPORTING (2007)

Repulsion Quotient – 80%

Kalitala Sporting (2007) Pandal and the Grotesque Coconut Chandelier

The importance of Palm
trees and Coconuts has been immense in Hinduism and Indian cultural history.
Usages of various elements of Palm tree and Coconuts have always been an
integral part of most of the Puja rituals across India. These are known
factoids. The problem is when a Club decides to make a pandal out of Coconuts.
Hundreds of coconut shells were used in doing up the Pandal façade. The colour
tone of the Pandal was kept palpably parrot green in sync with its callow
ingredient. Even the chandelier was grotesquely devised with coconut shells
(See Pic). Well, a really gory décor is what they could execute which obviously
was pretty hard to swallow.

This Club located at the eastern fringes of the
city was one of the top draws till some time ago when it had bagged the
prestigious Asian Paints Sharad Samman thrice consecutively between 2006 and
2008. For some reason, I hadn’t been able to visit this Puja before 2012 but
due to its mounting reputation, I had made up my mind to cover this Puja that
year. Alas, there was sheer disappointment awaiting me when I reached this
place. “Joy of Creation” was the underlying premise of Bandhan Raha’s theme,
the Pandal designed with a plethora of unrecycled daily household objects. If
the concept sounded thought provoking enough, the implementation was a far cry
from being anything interesting. In fact, the end product was somewhat spooky
and veering on the lines of being disconcerting. The Devi was seated in a
unique shaped altar which looked similar to alien vegetation with creepy
danglers on its edges. At the middle of the Mandap was a tall centerpiece that
resembled an overgrown, unkempt mushroom. I wonder what the theme maker wanted
to convey through this extremely tasteless creativity. Certainly a fiasco
through inventiveness!!!

MONOTOSH
SMRITI SANGHA (2014)

Repulsion Quotient – 80%

The Dominatrix Devi at Monotosh Smriti Sangha (2014)

This choice is purely on the basis of bizarre
imagery. In my 20 odd years of Puja Parikramas, I’ve been witness to a lot of
weird idols but none as dramatic and yet whacky as this one, which I sincerely believed
the 2015 Puja Razzies (if there was one!!) should have been befittingly
conferred upon. I haven't yet encountered a more anti-climactic image.... the
Asura mounting high like a juvenile Ninja... the “Cowgirl”-ish Devi lassoing
in the Mahishasura (Buffalo Demon), in more of a gyrating posture, than
anything else..... the dominatrix style snake-resembling-a-whip…. and not to
forget, the Lion and Buffalo up to something less cosmic!!!!.... and all this
after the caption of the Puja Committee read as “Aamra Shaabeki” (We are
Traditional)!!!!

JODHPUR PARK(2010)

Repulsion Quotient – 90%

Hilarious Lego Land at Jodhpur Park (2010)

Another Bandhan Raha entry on the list. I’m sure most of us have some cherished childhood
memories about our tryst with building blocks called Lego Bricks. The earliest
recollections date back to my 5th birthday where I had received
these Lego bricks as a gift from one of my cousin uncles. Back in those days,
childhood was devoid of gadgets or gizmos rampant in today’s world and we had
to make do with a variety of indoor games. Lego was one of the most preferred
kids’ recreations as it was both fun and functionally educational. The blocks
came in multitude of bright colours something which also appealed to the little
wannabe engineers. But when you transpose those Lego blocks into creating a
Puja Pandal then there’s certainly a sense of iffy-ness attached to it. But
there was also a sense of expectation as this marked a comeback for one of the
best visualisers of the early 2000’s, Bandhan Raha who gave Kolkata the famous
Earthen Pots Pandal of Bosepukur Sitala Mandir in 2001. The fact that I had
braved persistent rains to visit this utter load of codswallop will continue
haunting me forever. Sincerely, it was such a bad display that even the kids
did not find it amusing. Thematically, this was probably the worst kind of
display I’ve come across in recent years.

BADAMTALA AASHADH SANGHA (2009)

Repulsion Quotient – 90%

Weaver Bird Nest at Badamtala Aashadh Sangha (2009)

When the Club
commissioned acclaimed Filmmaker/Cinematographer Goutam Ghose, director of
award winning movies like Paar (Hindi); Antarjali Jatra, Padma Nadir Majhi,
Abaar Aranye (Bengali), there would understandably be a clout of expectation
for all those who wanted to see more talent from Tollywood Movie fraternity lending
their creative faculties to Durga Pujas which is the biggest public art
exhibition of current times. As a theme, he had chosen “Nature” and although
environment themes have been done to death this is somewhat of a safe bet
nowadays. The execution was a bit of a watershed. The pandal was structured in
the form of a Weaver Bird’s nest while the Devi inside was depicted as an Earth
Mother with birds flying off from her hands to attack the Asura (Demon).
The representation of the deity in such an unusual form was probably a profound
political statement of underdevelopment and struggle of natives from the tribal
hinterlands. The Asura had an innate resemblance to a British officer of the
Raj also reminiscent of the tussles prevalent in pre-independent India. All in
all, far too many issues embroiled together to distaste the concoction.

BEHALA CLUB
(2013)

Repulsion Quotient – 85%

An Alien Spaceship at Behala Club (2013)

The theme undertaken by the club was “BEEJ THEKE
PRAN, PRAN THEKE CHETONA”, based on Germination of a Fruit. The artist tried to
portray a fruit which had just ripened and came bursting out thereby spreading
its seeds. Germination is the process by which plants, fungi and bacteria
emerge from seeds, which implies anything expanding into greater being from a
small existence. According to the Hinduism Devi Durga is the source of life. The
bursting of the fruit could be deduced as Devi Durga distributing fresh life
amongst her believers. The main Altar was given the shape of a large fruit with
the Devi installed in its core. The approach to the main Mandap there were
various unfinished faces of the Devi that were gradually taking the actual
shape of Devi Durga. Again conceptually, it had the mettle but at the end of
the day Pujas exhibit visual art and regrettably, the final product was not a
visual treat. To the naked eye, the Mandap looked like an Alien Ship with the
unfinished faces just adding bewilderment to confusion.

BHOWANIPORE
SWADHIN SANGHA (2012)

Repulsion Quotient – 80%

The Gory "Tasher Desh" Tableau at Bhowanipore Swadhin Sangha (2012)

Rabindranath Tagore has been etched in Bengali
culture since time immemorial and will remain that way forever. At various
occasions, Clubs have taken references of Tagore in their themes and
presentations. But none, as tacky and gory as this one. An attempt to recreate
“Tasher Desh” (Kingdom of Cards), one of Tagore's most famous dance operas, a
unique genre he had developed influenced by Western opera. This one was
discretely inspired by Carroll’s classic, Alice in Wonderland. A Tagore bust
welcomed the audience at the entrance and that was where I think Tagore’s
subjective relevance with the Club’s theme ended. The approach to the main
altar was peppered with life size, overtly gaudy models depicting characters
from the Play. The main Mandap was a botched structure of with Cards painted
all over. The images of Durga and her family was essentially a charade of Card
imagery which made them even more visually calamitous. I almost died laughing
seeing the Anglo-Saxon tunic clad guy above Durga (which was plausibly our good
ol’ Shiva!!). The Devi also had a touch of Renaissance about her with the
medieval European cloak hardly complementing the more sub-continental veil. A
comic relief for the Puja audiences….

NAKTALA
BHRATRI MILAN SANGHA (2010)

Repulsion Quotient – 85%

This is almost tending to being Scary.... Naktala Bhratri Milan Sangha (2010)

Kolkata Pujas have always been influenced both
advertently and passively by Moviedom. Many Barowaris have tried to mimic
Cinematic themes and characters through their Mandaps and Imagery. Right from the ‘60s when Saraswati-s were
modelled similar to the erstwhile Screen Diva Suchitra Sen or Laxmi-s as Hema
Malini, to the ‘70s where most of the Kartick-s were facsimiles of leading
Bollywood/Tollywood stars. The Asura also had his share of the spoils with most
of them fashioned as popular Bollywood villains like Gabbar and Shaakal. ‘90s
saw the Jurassic Park phenomenon touch our shores with numerous Puja Committees
resorting to Dino-based Themes. With the advent of the new millennium, the audience
was treated to a replica of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts which also had queer
distinction of getting into a copyright infringement suit with Warner Brothers
Studios. Almost every year we get to see some theme or the other borrowed from
Bollywood or Tollywood flicks and most of them are successful in stirring some
sort of public interest. TASHAN (2008) was a burning example of an apology of a
script resulting in an extremely regressive cinema which is fondly remembered
for only one plausible reason - Kareena Kapoor’s Size Zero stature, something
that she sashayed around during the entire length and breadth of this movie.
Well these organisers went ahead and took imitation to a new level or nadir if
I can call it, as this 11 ft tall Size Zero Kareena-esque idol stole the
headlines for obviously all the wrong reasons. This ludicrously inexplicable
deity in the name of creativity was not even worth a dime.

KALITALA SPORTING (2008)

Repulsion Quotient – 85%

Mali World Heritage Site Revisited, although not much memorably... Kalitala Sporting (2008)

An
encore for this Club on this list, and no I don’t have any clandestine motive
behind it. After the 2007 massacre with Coconuts (mentioned earlier), the Club
decided to go from local to really distant shores. The marquee of the Kalitala
Sporting Club in the eastern pockets of Kolkata was inspired by an ancient architecture
of Bandiagara in the West African state of Mali, one of the world heritage
sites, built by the Dogon tribe. The pandal was developed with Plaster-of-Paris
& Jute with numerous life-size murals splashed all over like junkies. Some
of those motifs were pretty abysmal mainly due to their shambolic and juvenile
craft quotient. It’s the same reason why I feel its extremely difficult to
portray overseas art forms as the artisans employed are local ones and most of
the times they do not have an inkling of an idea of what they are trying to
replicate. Most of the times they are handed over images downloaded from the
internet and they artworks are reproduced in isolation that result in low
craftsmanship and often have no sync with the underlining essence of Pujas.